Nature Boy
by nonsolumsedetiam
Summary: Castiel at Camp Chitaqua. Strange guy. But interesting. Done while listening to Nat King Cole sing "Nature Boy" on a loop.


Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural. What on earth made you think that? It's Kripke's baby.

"_What happened to you?"_

"_Life."_

No one in Camp Chitaqua knew what he was really. No one knew that once upon a time he was once Angel of the Lord, a soldier in Heaven's Army. It wasn't like anyone was going to ask either. Dean, well, he'd just glare at you like you were a Croat and then you'd number your days; Chuck Shurley might have known something, but he was just as afraid of what Dean would do as anyone else; and Castiel would simply smile and offer some pills to take away the questions.

They knew he was strange (how anyone could survive having that much drugs in their system was the grand mystery). It wasn't just the drugs though. Sometimes he would just quietly gaze into space, focused on nothing. It was impossible to tell if he was high or not. His answers to questions of whether or not he was okay were equally baffling when he was sober as when he was being a rocket man. _Did you know that a male cat's penis is barbed?_

He seemed to be both enchanted and cursed. One time he stripped himself naked and covered himself in honey. The people who found him were torn between relief and horror at the bees that covered his body. The entire time he looked absolutely content. Even when Dean shot him the famous I-think-I-see-some-Croat-in-you-let-me-shoot-it-off glare, Castiel simply grinned some more.

There were many things that could be said about the resident hippie (or whatever you could call him. Dean's obviously given up), the simplest back story you could get was that he was just someone who had wandered around to many places. The way he spoke of the places they had only read about in books, he had to have been some sort of a globe trotter.

When he wasn't hosting orgies, he was oddly shy. He only ever really spoke to Dean. In that in between moment where he was waiting for the drugs to take over, you could glance over and see such sadness in those blue eyes. It was really obvious when he was holed up waiting for his foot to heal after the last supply run.

The team had dragged themselves back into camp, licking their wounds and triumphantly bearing gifts and goodies. At the tail end of the party were Dean and Castiel. Dean's mouth was set into a grim line, and he gave his shoulder to take the weight off of Castiel's foot. Castiel's expression was blank. Some of the young ladies took him off of Dean's hands to patch him up, leaving Dean to watch them go before snapping orders to the rest.

It was almost a given that Dean would tick some people off. He almost lived on the camp's line between love and hate. In the moments where he almost went far enough to drop off the edge and get killed himself, fearless leader or not, Castiel was always there to draw him back. Usually afterwards they could see him sporting a black eye and a slight wince every time he took a breath, but that was the sacrifice he made to maintain the camp's solidarity. The first time this happened, people gossiped, as they always would, and said that he was insane. By the fifth time, they thought he was out of his mind and brave. By the tenth time, they thought he was batshit insane, with balls of steel, and very wise.

All this occurred before past-Dean was sent to the future. In the moment of peace, the quiet before the storm, past Dean sat outside, listening to the sounds of the camp at night (a mix of moans and groans and general discomfort). A body sat down beside him, an arm around his shoulders, and the smell of marijuana hit Dean's nose. It wasn't as if Castiel needed sleep either. It was the last remnant of his angelhood.

So they sat and spoke quietly, because this Castiel liked past-Dean. He liked the present-Dean too, but past-Dean was younger; he hadn't been through their particular fire, and as a result was funnier. They talked about foolish men and moments and Castiel shared present-Dean's moments of idiocy. They talked about Boy kings and hell and Lucifer. They spoke of many, many things until present-Dean dragged Castiel away and inside. Past-Dean couldn't understand why Castiel would put up with such a dick. It was better not to ask since he'd probably get some tantric roundabout answer just like anyone else.

"The greatest thing

You'll ever learn

Is just to love

And be loved

In return"


End file.
